Many felt that veteran lefty Bruce Chen would be calling it a career, especially since there had been little chatter concerning him this offseason.

After he was released by the KC Royals in September and the team went on to the World Series, many Royals fans congratulated Chen because he essentially was a part of the team.

Royals lefty Bruce Chen during spring training in 2014 (Jen Nevius).

However now, those same fans aren’t too happy with Chen.

It seems the soft tosser signed a contract with American League Central rival Cleveland for one year. It is a minor league contract, but if he makes the team, it is worth $1 million (and another $1 million in incentives). It is pending a physical.

Spring training for the Indians starts tomorrow.

The Indians already have a pretty full starting rotation, with reigning CY Young Award winner Corey Kluber leading the pack. Their top four rotation spots seemed to be filled by Kluber, Carlos Carrasco, Trevor Bauer, and reclamation project Gavin Floyd. That leaves one spot open with the likes of TJ House, Danny Salazar, Zach McAllister, and Josh Tomlin fighting for the last spot.

The Indians bullpen is just as stacked. Cody Allen is the closer, with Scott Atchison, Kyle Crockett, Marc Rzepczynski, Bryan Shaw, and Nick Hagadone taking up six spots.

Chen usually pitched well against Cleveland when he was a member of the Royals. In 2013, he had a 1.04 ERA against them in 17.1. innings.

Honestly, I wish Chen the best of luck. He has always been a great guy and someone you could always root for. If you want to check him out in spring training, the Indians host the Royals at Goodyear on Friday, March 6th and Thursday, March 12th. The Indians travel to Surprise to face the Royals on Monday, March 16th.

If Chen makes the Indians Opening Day roster, the Indians first trip to Kauffman will be May 5-7 (Tuesday-Thursday).

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About Jen Nevius

I first became a KC Royals fan way back in 1995 when I attended my first Wilmington Blue Rocks game. I fell in love with minor league baseball then and began following the Royals as former Blue Rocks clawed their way to the big leagues.
3+ years ago I started covering the Royals for Aerys Sports, but since the site has been shut down, I am going out on my own.